Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

alte Möhre

English translation:

obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment

Added to glossary by Jonathan Whiteley
Jan 22, 2007 22:32
17 yrs ago
3 viewers *
German term

alte Möhre

German to English Tech/Engineering General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters Customer feedback
This is from a consumer customer response to the manufacturer about the manufacturer's product, which is an extractor hood for home stoves.

jahrelang haben wir nach einem gescheiten Ersatz für unsere "alte Möhre" geucht.

Proposed translations

+2
16 mins
Selected

obsolete {old, decrepit} piece of equipment

Everywhere I have seen this used, this is what they are talking about. I wanted to say "old piece of junk" but this German seems to be used for working equipment, so junk does not get done.

Jalopy might work for a car, but as you are not talking about a car. Maybe this will give people a push in other directions
Peer comment(s):

agree vic voskuil : old piece :)
21 mins
agree Ingeborg Gowans (X)
1 hr
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : that's the idea alright, just not slang enough/sth. with "contraption"? - piece of cr*p/sh*t will hardly do
1 hr
neutral Killian Kavanagh : Along the lines of what Cilian is suggesting - old dud / clinker
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Hello, Thanks for the help. I used decrepit."
+6
8 hrs

old banger

Yes, "old banger" usely applies to a car, but for me it works here too because the extractor hood is likewise a clapped out device that is almost part of the family. This is probably not what they'd say in N. America (also re. "clapped out"), but still ... Any more info on context?

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Note added at 8 hrs (2007-01-23 06:47:33 GMT)
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about typewriters:

As I was restoring this machine and tweaking it up for the website, I compared this old banger to my own personal Streamliner, and it's truly almost as nice as that one.
http://mrtypewriter.tripod.com/remingtonstreamliner.htm
Peer comment(s):

agree Steven Sidore : 'old beater' would be the US equivalent
15 mins
A-haaa
agree Karin Seelhof : sounds good
1 hr
agree Ken Cox : and with Steven
2 hrs
agree Nicole Schnell : With Steffen. "old junker" would work, too.//How embarrassing... Sorry, Steven!!
3 hrs
Wow, the omnipresent Steffen W. works in mysterious ways ...
agree mill2
5 hrs
agree Julia Lipeles : with Steven
9 hrs
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

hunk a junk

perhaps too casual?

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Note added at 9 hrs (2007-01-23 08:14:25 GMT)
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rust bucket
Something went wrong...
+2
4 hrs

(old) worn-out (exhaust) pipe* / the (our) good old pipe

a few more (some of them angrier) variations showing "it was really time for that piece of ... to go."

* if its the hood and the pipe - and Möhre (=carrot) seems to be referring to the exhaust pipe. Without a hood, it would just be "pipe" or "stove pipe."

the (our) good old pipe (as in: we did like it/did not hate it but it had to go anyway)

or:
good-for-nothing (piece of an) exhaust pipe (exhaust hood)
sorry excuse for an exhaust pipe
worn-out piece of a pipe
old, decrepit pipe
worn-out stove hood (exhaust hood)
sorry piece of equipment/pipe
no-good-piece of junk/ pipe


http://www.searoom.com/veleda/logsec01/stove.htm
worn out twenty-three year old Kenyon stove

http://language.bin.org/ref/dict/?t=sorry
good-for-nothing goldbrick"; "the car was a no-good piece of junk" [syn: good-for-nothing, good-for-naught, meritless, no-account, no-count, no-good] ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extractor_hood
exhaust hood, stove hood, ...

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Note added at 1 day10 hrs (2007-01-24 08:47:16 GMT)
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if it's ... (corr.)
Peer comment(s):

agree casper (X) : Admirable thesaurusic options, I say!
3 hrs
thank you, Chetan!
agree Paul Cohen : ...with (our old) "sorry excuse for a..." That's the kind of colloquial expression that would convey the idea to readers in the US. KudoZ, Bernhard!
13 hrs
thanks a lot, Paul!
Something went wrong...
1 day 14 hrs

old clunker

Here in Vermont we call those items 'old clunker'....
Something went wrong...
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